Part I of my new article Prototyping: An Odyssey is up on GDAM (Game Design Aspect of the Month). This month’s rally is on Prototyping and so far three game designers have contributed with their articles. The GDAM subjects in the past were 2-3 Hour Games, Player Death, and Trends of Simplicity. There is a lot of good stuff there so please check it out!

I must admit that I was enchanted by [the Proteus] myth. It was a wonderful metaphor for prototyping and captured its essence perfectly. Let’s look at the elements of this myth:

• Metamorphoses: the ability to assume many forms in rapid succession.
• Prophecy: the revelation of the mistakes you were unaware of at the time you made them; and directives on what course to take in order to repair the damage that they have done.
• Exactitude (As an extension of the Prophecy element): The Oracle of Delphi carried the inscription “Know thyself!”, an inscription that has been often interpreted as “Know your problem!” or “Have a clearly formulated question!”. Otherwise the answer of the Oracle will sound cryptic and useless.
• Teamwork: You can’t fasten Proteus all by yourself; you need the help of a group of dedicated and determined people.

Today I was doing a little research for a future article which probably will take a closer look at game manifestos and the question of art games. While I was looking for useful resource, I tossed at this:

A compilation of manifestos from all over the world, in alphabetical order. This is such a treasure! It’s huge and will take days to complete reading, but after that I’m sure I will have a deeper understanding what moved people and made them say “Enough! We want a change!”